Germany

Strong interest in the topic of religion

This year's competition is the twenty-fifth consecutive German History Contest that the Koerber Foundation has organised. “The large number of participants working on the topic of "God and the world. Religion makes history" proves that young people are interested in religion,” said Sven Tetzlaff, head of the foundation's Education Department.

By the closing date of February 28, 2017, a total of 5,153 young people had submitted 1,677 contributions. They examined the history of places of worship, explored the importance of religion to the coexistence of people, and dealt with questions of violence and persecution in the context of religion. On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation, many also focused on that topic.

About a third of the students used archives for their research. "The history contest provides a very important impetus for the historical and political education in these out of school learning environments," stressed Mr. Tetzlaff. The young people handed in their contributions in written form as well as as audio and video formats, exhibitions and other creative formats.

At the beginning of June, winners on a Länder (regional) level will be announced. In a second step the jury will select the best contributions on the national level and the first prize winners will be personally awarded by the German Federal President in Berlin in November, 2017.